Yichang,known as “the pearl of the Three Gorges and the world hydropower center”, is a charming and prosperous city located in the west part of Hubei Province and adjacent to the world-famous Xiling Gorge of the Three Gorges. Its beauty has been vividly described by a poet as “A place interconnecting Shu and Chu, and a magic land blessed by nature with unrivalled scenery”. Currently, it administers five counties ( Yuan’an County, Xingshan County, Zigui County, ChangyangTujia Autonomous County, and WufengTujia Autonomous County), three county-level cities ( Yidu City, Dangyang City, and Zhijiang City), and five districts ( YilingDistrict, Xiling District, Wujiagang District, Dianjun District and Xiaoting District), covering an area of 21,000 square kilometers with a total population of 4,150,000, among which 1,550,000 people live in built-up areas with 150 square kilometers. In 2014, it gained a GDP of 313.22 billion yuan and local public finance budget revenue of 27.15 billion yuan.Now it has successfully become a National Civilized City, a National Sanitary City, a National Model City for Environmental Protection, a National Garden City and a National Forest City.

Tangerine trees

goldenrain tree

Yichang lily

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Yichang, known as Xiling in ancient times, was the central living area of the Xiling Tribes. The primitive “Changyang Man” had already lived around theQingjiang River Basin about 200,000 years ago. Since the 1950s, archaeological sites of the late New Stone Age were found in Lijiahe and Ziyanghe of the Dianjun District in Yichang, and dozens of ancient sites and cultural relics were unearthed in Baimiaozi, Qing River Beach, Zhongbao Island and Xiaoxikou, which can strongly prove that our ancestors multiplied in this land as early as 5000 or 6000 years ago. In Xia and Shang Dynasties, Yichang belonged to the ancient Jingzhou State. During the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period, it was known as “the frontier fortress in the west of Chu”, where cities and towns were built already. In the 21st year of King Qingxiang of Chu (278 BC), Bai Qi, a general from Qin Dynasty, “attackedChu , occupied its capital Ying, set fire to Yiling”. It was the first time that the city had been called “Yiling”, which indicated that the historical records about Yichang can be dated back to 2284 years ago. Meanwhile, it had been the capital of various counties, states, kingdoms and prefectures through the ages and named continuously as Yiling, Xiling, Xiazhou, Yizhou, Tuozhou and Donghu, among which Yiling and Xiazhou are the frequently used ones.. As for the origin of the name of “Yiling”, there are two records: one is from GeographicRecords of the bookHanshu, telling that “YiMountain lies in the northwest”; another is from Old Records“ Here rivers flow gently (Yi), and hills stand laigh(ling)”, giving the name “Yiling” which means “ smooth rivers and low hills”. Yichang can also be called “Xiazhou” as the door of the Three Gorges. It was the first time that “Yichang” had appeared in historical records since the western Yiling was administrated as Yichang County in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. In the 13th year of Emperor Yongzheng of Qin Dynasty (1735), the Yiling State was promoted as the Yichang Prefecture. Thus, the name of “Yichang” has been used from then on.

Yichang boasts for not only its long history but also its profound culture. As an important place for the development of Chu and Ba Cultures, it has nurtured many outstanding people, like Qu Yuan, a celebrity in world culture and history, Wang Zhaojun, a bride bringing peace for the Hans and Huns by political marriage, and Yang Shoujing, a world-known scholar. It was also a gathering place for famous men of letter in the past dynasties such as Li Bai, Du Fu, BaiJuyi, OuYangxiu, Su Shi and Lu You etc who were moved by the landscape of Xiling while visiting historical sites, and wrote numerous poems and essays upon them, enriching precious cultural wealth for Yichang.

Located in western Hubei Province, the intersection of the upper and middle reaches of the YangtzeRiver, and the junction of Chongqing, Hubei and Hunan Province, Yichang has always played an important role in facilitating the transportation from Sichuan to Jingzhou and Xiangyang. Known as “the Gate of the Three Gorges” and “the Throat between Sichuan and Hubei”, it holds a great importance in the military strategic position. Many kingdoms fought for it due to its geographic position, so numerous war fares in history happened here, including the Yiling Campaign in the downtown of Yinchang during the Three Kingdoms Period. After the “Sino-British Yantai Treaty”, Yichang served as a trading port where. U.K, U.S., France, Germany, Italy and Japan set up their consulates successively. Thus, Yichang became a distributing center for domestic and foreign trade. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Yichang has become an economic center in the domain of western Hubei Province, north Hunan Province and eastern Chongqing Province because a batch of key enterprises has been set up there here. In 1994, Yichang was approved as one of “the opening cities along the Yangtze River” and “the economic opening area of Yangtze Three Gorges” by the State Council. In the Developing Belt of the Yangtze Area, Yichang, adjoining Wuhan in the east and Chongqing in the west, is an ideal place for the integration of money and technology from the eastern China with abundant resources from the western part, the starting point from the middle to the western part of Western Development Strategy carried out by our country, the “ Eastern Gate” of Western Development as well as an important supporting point of “ Big Triangle” strategy of Hubei, because the Gezhouba Hydropower station, the first dam on the Yangtze River, lies in the urban area of Yichang, and the world-known Three Gorges Projec tis only 38 kilometers away from the downtown.

Yichang is a transportation hub of the western Hubei Province and eastern Chongqing City. With the Golden Waterway of the Yangtze River flowing through an area of 237 kilometers of Yichang, Yichang Port serves as one of eight important ports along the Yangtze River, and Zhijiang Port serves as one of China’s four major transshipment port of coal. During “ the Eleventh Five-Year” when Yichang made a remarkable change in the construction of transportation, it has built a new Yichang-Enshi expressway based on the original Shanghai-Chongqing expressway, two expressways from Yichang to Jingmen and Three Gorges Dam Area, covering 347 kilometers in total with 1.64 kilometers per hundred square kilometers. Besides, it has also built a railway from Yichang to Wanzhou covering 106 kilometers, adding up to 444 kilometers in total in terms of railway. Yichang is becoming an important transportation hub in central China owing to Golden Waterway of the Yangtze River and YichangSanxia Airport, which influences and improves the development of tourism in the Three Gorges Area with its magnetic field effect and radiation effect.

In 2014，the GDP of Yichang hasgrown up to 313.22 billion yuan, an increase of 9.8%; local public budget revenue reached 27.15 billion yuan, an increase of 31.6%; total fixed asset investment was 24.71 billion yuan, an increase of 22.1%; total retail sales of social consumer goods was 96.45 billion yuan, an increase of 13.3%; import and export volume of foreign trade was 2.7 billion yuan, an increase of 14.8%; the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 25,025 yuan, an increase of 9.6%; the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 11,837 yuan, an increase of 13.2%. Meanwhile, its county economy also flourished. Yidu became the second one in Hubei Province to gain the title of the National Top Hundred Counties (cities) Economy. Yidu, Yiling, Zhijiang, Dangyang ranked in the tops of the Hubei Province’s County Economic Classification Assessment. The local public revenue income of 8 counties(cities and districts）was over 1 billion yuan, among which 2 was over 2 billion and 2 was over 3 billion. The per capita disposable income of urban residents of 9 counties(cities and districts）was over 20,000 yuan, while the per capita disposable income of rural residents of 8 counties(cities and districts）was more than 10,000 yuan.

With the completion of the first dam of the mighty Yangtze River Gezhouba Dam project and China\'s largest project --- the Three Gorges Project, Yichang has become a hot spot in China and rapidly developed into the largest hydropower center in China, a transfer port for inland economy development, a gathering place for investment and development of merchants from home and abroad, and an important industrial city of the Yangtze River Economic belt. Yichang, a beautiful city with fascinating scenery and famous Three Gorges tourism as its visiting card, enjoys all the policies of open-up coastal cities. Yichang is one of the 11 key tour cities in China, and is famous for the Three Gorges Dam Area Tour site, the Three Gorges Household Tour Site, the Qingjiang River Gallery Tour Site and Chexi(Waterwheels) Folk Custom Tour Site etc.

Yichang is also known as the historical site of the Three Kingdoms. In China’s famous classic the Three Kingdoms, thirty six stories happened here, such as the Yiling Battle telling the burn-up of 350 kilometers of camps, the Battle of Changbanpodepicting how Zhao Yun fought bravely, the story of Dangyang Bridge in which Zhangfei was waving dauntlessly with a long spear and the story of Guan Yu, who was defeated in Maicheng and captured in Huimapo. It is also a place where one can see Gangyu’s grave, visit his magnificent memorial park, and research the culture of Ganyu at the same time.

Qu Yuan, one of the World\'s Four Cultural Celebrities and Wang Zhaojun, one of the Four Beauties in Ancient China, were both born in the territory of ancient Yichang. Qu Yuan Temple, Zhaojun village, Reading Hole, Empress Well and other numerous historical and cultural relics keep telling people many beautiful and moving legends all the time. Shennongjia, the place where Shennong (also known as the Emperor Yan) once tasted all the herbs, is the largest virgin forest in central China filled with old and tall trees, wild flowers and rare animals, and a wonderful place for recreation in summer holiday, skiing and snow enjoyment in winter, and for adventures.

Interpretation of Yichang’s development plan

"235" city development goals: By the end of the "Twelfth Five Year", the city framework of Yichang shall reach 200 square kilometers with a permanent resident population of 2 million, by the year 2030, it shall reach 300 square kilometers with a permanent resident population of 3 million, it shall reach 500 square kilometers with a permanent resident population of 5 million in a long term.

"132" comprehensive strength goals: the comprehensive strength of Yichang shall strive to be the first among the same level cities in the central area, it shall rank the top three among the same level cities along the Yangtze River and stably rank the second in Hubei Province.

"14567" specific work idea: "1" is one goal, which is to accelerate the construction of Yichang into a big and powerful, superior and beautiful modern megacity ; "4" is to build the four platforms of Yichang New District, Yichang New Development Zone, the Three Gorges Project Area and Three Gorges Tourism New District ; "5" is the implementation of the five livelihood project，the multiplication of the income of urban and rural residents, the national entrepreneurship, the innovation of social management, the arrangement, greening and beautifying of the city, the building of national top food safety assured city; "6" is to cultivate the following six 100 billion industries, the fine chemicals, food and biological medicine, advanced equipment manufacturing, new materials, culture and tourism and modern logistics industry; "7" is to promote the innovation of the following seven systems and mechanisms, the construction and management of urban planning, investment and financing, new urbanization, modern industrial systems, the talent strong the city reform pilot area the utilization of the Yangtze River shoreline, the development of culture and tourism.

1+10 reform of the overall deployment: it is the top-level design and overall plan of the comprehensively deepening reforms around the major issues, major systems of Yichang’s overall development. "1" is to formulate the ideas on implementing the spirit of the Third Plenum of the eighteenth Municipal committee, comprehensively deepening reforms, transformation of mode of development; "10" is to promote the innovation of systems and mechanisms and make breakthrough on the following ten major issues, the promotion of human-oriented new urbanization, the building of national top food safety assured city, strengthening of ecological construction in all-round way, creating a comfortable city for human, transformation of the government’s functions, updating environment for development, building a wonderful city for studying, construction of intelligent Yichang, implementing the transformation of the old city, creating a livable city, making breakthroughs in developing modern service and strategically emerging industries, accelerating agricultural modernization and so on.